Specifically, in a pair of size 36 dress pants. I'd never bought pants at H&M before, and suddenly asked myself: how could a 36-inch waist suddenly be so damn tight?

Then, the average waist size was 37.4 inches. By comparison, the average height of a U.S. woman is 63.6 inches, or 5 feet 3 inches. The average weight for women is around 170 pounds.

In 1958, a woman who had a 34-inch bust and a 25-inch waist was considered a size 12. Today, a size 12 would fit a woman with a 39-inch bust and a 32-inch waist. If those size discrepancies sound ...

Waist sizes of middle-aged woman have grown by six inches over the last 60 years because people do less housework, research by Saga has found. By James Hall 23 May 2012 • 7:00pm ...